The 2021–22 Bulgarian Cup was the 40th official edition of the Bulgarian annual football knockout tournament. It was sponsored by Sesame and known as the Sesame Kupa na Bulgaria for sponsorship purposes.[1] The competition began on 4 September 2021 with the preliminary round and finished with the final on 15 May 2022.[2]CSKA Sofia were the defending cup winners. They reached the final for 3rd consecutive time, but lost to Levski Sofia, who won the cup for a record 26th time and also qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Participating clubs
The following 47 teams qualified for the competition:[3]
The draw was conducted on 27 August 2021.[4] The games were played between 4 and 8 September 2021.[5] In this stage participated 16 winners from the regional amateur competitions and 17 non-reserve teams from Second League. During the draw, Rozova Dolina Kazanlak, Septemvri Simitli and Septemvri Sofia received a bye to the Round of 32.
The draw was conducted on 27 August 2021.[4] The games were played between 21 and 23 September 2021.[6][7][8] In this stage participated the 15 winners from the first round, the three byes, as well as the 14 teams from First League.
Note: Originally, the game has been scheduled for 22 September. On 16 September the Bulgarian Football Union declared the postponement of the game due to the high number of positive COVID-19 cases within the Levski Lom squad.[10] On 30 September the BFU announced that the game has been rescheduled for 8 October 2021.[11]
Round of 16
The draw was conducted on 23 September 2021.[12] The games were played between 26 October and 17 November 2021.[11] In this stage the participants are the 16 winners from the previous round.
The draw was conducted on 28 October 2021.[13] The games were played between 1 and 3 March 2022.[14] In this stage the participants are the 8 winners from the previous round.
The draw was conducted on 4 March 2022.[18] The first legs should be played on 12 and 13 April,[19] while the second legs are scheduled for 21 and 22 April 2022.[20] Contrary to the generally accepted regulations in European football, the away goals rule will apply.
^Septemvri Sofia will host the match at Vivacom Arena - Georgi Asparuhov, Sofia, instead of their own home venue Stadion DIT, Sofia, as it does not meet BFU's requirements for this stage of the tournament.[16] Initially Septemvri intended to host the match at Arena Tsarsko Selo, Sofia, but the BFU declined their application due to the small capacity of the stadium.[17]
